StoptheTaijiSlaughter

Each year somewhen between September and March, a cruel dolphin hunt takes place in Taiji, Japan. This terrible practice was made famous by Louie Psihoyos 2009 Academy award-winning movie "The Cove." During these months, fisherman and dolphin hunters "drive" the mammals to their capture or deaths. These magnificent dolphins are chased into a cove and trapped with nets and boats. They go through the most unimaginable pain as they are stabbed and slaughtered turning the cove red with blood as their bodies twist in pain. The quota this year is for 1820 dolphins of various species to be slaughtered in Taiji.

Trainers, working alongside hunters, will also select around 150 wild bottlenose dolphins to send to marine parks in Japan and overseas, a process where a large number of animals are injured or killed, but their numbers never recorded. They are starved to make them perform in a tiny prison for our amusement. Dolphin hunting in Taiji is not a cultural activity or a tradition, it began in the 1950’s.

The dolphins that are slaughtered are sold as meat in the local markets. Repeated chemical analysis by the Dolphin Project have shown that the level of mercury in dolphin meat is much higher than the maximum allowable level set by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan and the World Health Organisation. Japan's National Institute of Population and Social Security Research has cited mortality figures in Taiji for 2007 at 67 deaths from a population of some 3,500 residents — putting the town's overall mortality rate more than 50 percent above other villages nationwide of roughly the same population.

From video and photos taken recently by Dolphin Project, it is obvious that the capture process is brutal and violent, entire pods of dolphins are wiped out. The hunt is completely unsustainable. There has never been research into how the slaughter has affected the wild gene pool and the overall population of dolphins. Dolphin Project does not support a boycott of Japan. The Japanese people need access to the information that we take for granted, if they knew the truth about the dolphin slaughter, they would help us stop it. Please take action NOW. See the list of actions on this page.

Each year somewhen between September and March, a cruel dolphin hunt takes place in Taiji, Japan. This terrible practice was made famous by Louie Psihoyos 2009 Academy award-winning movie "The Cove." During these months, fisherman and dolphin hunters "drive" the mammals to their capture or deaths. These magnificent dolphins are chased into a cove and trapped with nets and boats. They go through the most unimaginable pain as they are stabbed and slaughtered turning the cove red with blood as their bodies twist in pain. The quota this year is for 1820 dolphins of various species to be slaughtered in Taiji.

Trainers, working alongside hunters, will also select around 150 wild bottlenose dolphins to send to marine parks in Japan and overseas, a process where a large number of animals are injured or killed, but their numbers never recorded. They are starved to make them perform in a tiny prison for our amusement. Dolphin hunting in Taiji is not a cultural activity or a tradition it began in the 1950’s.

The dolphins that are slaughtered are sold as meat in the local markets. Repeated chemical analysis by the Dolphin Project have shown that the level of mercury in dolphin meat is much higher than the maximum allowable level set by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan and the World Health Organisation. Japan's National Institute of Population and Social Security Research has cited mortality figures in Taiji for 2007 at 67 deaths from a population of some 3,500 residents — putting the town's overall mortality rate more than 50 percent above other villages nationwide of roughly the same population.

From video and photos taken recently by Dolphin Project, it is obvious that the capture process is brutal and violent, entire pods of dolphins are wiped out. The hunt is completely unsustainable. There has never been research into how the slaughter has affected the wild gene pool and the overall population of dolphins. Dolphin Project does not support a boycott of Japan. The Japanese people need access to the information that we take for granted, if they knew the truth about the dolphin slaughter, they would help us stop it. Please take action NOW. See the list of actions on this page.

Brian just after an interview on the 23rd September 2016 before the Adam Lambert and Queen Concert at the Budokan in Tokyo Japan.

So this is what I was doing tonight apart from sharing love and Rock and Roll in Tokyo's fabulous Budokan.

I was interviewed by AP's journalist of conscience, Yuri Kageyama, in support of the Dolphin Project, to end the tragic slaughter of Dolphins in Taiji.

Of course this is not in any way someone from outside, criticising Japan. Those who know me know that these days I spend a large part of my life campaigning against cruelty to animals - and attempting to be a voice for wild animals in particular. In the UK we still have a government that is trying to bring back blood sports - fox hunting, hare coursing, etc, and is currently slaughtering badgers in an already demonstrably failing attempt to solve a farming problem.

In Japan, in TAIJI, a tragedy regularly happens. Whole families of dolphins are herded into a cove where they are butchered, tortured, and some brutally torn away to become attractions in marine parks.

Fox hunting is the shame of Britain. Bull fighting is the shame of Spain. And TAIJI is the shame of Japan. Civilised decent compassionate people call for an end to these shameful abuses. NOW.

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